Celty's Birthday
by ChronaxMaka writer
Summary: Shinra and Celty celebrate Celty's Birthday. Fun and stuff inside. No pairings.


To say Celty was shocked would have been an understatement. Of course, it was also the kind of thing one would expect from someone as strange as Shinra. Still, Celty had almost no idea how to comprehend the sight before her.

Shinra stood inside the doors of a bowling alley, arms spread out to either side of him, a large, childish grin on his face as he said, "Happy Birthday, Celty!"

Celty looked inside the bowling alley, trying to find out what was so off about it. The inside was lowly lit, and the floors were made of dark brown oak, the walls were white with occasional bowling pins or bowling balls, to match the theme of the building.

What was so strange was that Shizuo was standing behind the counter, wearing his usual bartenders outfit and scowling. As she looked around, she saw Mikado, Masaomi, and Anri standing by a table putting on their bowling shoes and selecting bowling balls of different weights. When they saw her, they waved at her, saying the usual 'happy birthdays' and stuff before returning to their conversation.

Togusa, Erika, Walker, and Kadota were also there, four frames into a game, with Erika in the lead, much to everyone's suprise. They didn't seem to notice her presence, instead they all had (excluding Erika) frowns on their faces, and a large pile of Yen on the table between them. Simon and Dennis (who owns Russian Sushi) walked out of a door carrying food and refreshments to a table that had streamers and banner saying 'Happy Birthday, Celty!' Celty was still standing in the doorway, trying to wrap her head around what was going on.

When she finally pulled out her PDA, she typed:

How did you afford this?

Shinra looked at the screen, then at her and smiled brightly before giving her an answer. "Well, being an underground doctor does have its privileges. I performed a small surgery on the owners son, and he was so grateful to me that he offered to repay me in any way. A good man, but a bit over dramatic."

Celty typed out some more questions.

And he just let you borrow the building for an entire day? For free?

Shinra smiled again. "Well, not exactly. He wouldn't let me borrow the entire place for free, but I did get him to lower his prices a bit. And besides, we haven't celebrated your birthday in five years! You've been working so hard, your usually out when ever your birthday comes around. I thought it was time we did it again, you know, for old times sake."

Celty looked at the ground while thinking. She typed out yet another question.

Shinra, do you even know how old I am today?

Shinra looked at the PDA for several moments before turning a bit red and saying, "Stop asking questions! Today's all about you! Go talk to your friends. Have some fun!" And before she could type anything else, Shinra pulled her inside and closed the door behind her.

Celty walked over to where Shizuo was standing behind the counter. He gave her a small smile, even though he was still clearly pissed off. "Happy birthday, Celty. I have to say, I was suprised when Shinra asked me to do this. If it wasn't for the fact that he fixed me up after I was shot a few weeks ago, I probably would have bashed his face in." Celty chuckled inwardly, and told him:

Well, it was a little weird for me when he brought me here. I've never gone bowling before, and I didn't think he would invite Mikado and his friends here as well.

She and Shizuo looked at the circle of friends, and watched as Masaomi hit a strike, turning around and bowing to Anri, who smiled and looked away.

Shizuo just handed her a pair of bowling shoes and went back to muttering to himself.

Celty approached Mikado and his friends, typing out a greeting to them, asking them how Shinra got them to come here. Anri, Masaomi, and Mikado pretty much told her the same thing: Shinra had showed up at their apartments, told them when to show up, and asking if they could make it. Celty was still amazed Shinra had put this all together for her sake, but at the same time, she kind of expected it. Still, she was a little shocked that Shinra would do this.

Celty took off her helmet, put on her bowling shoes, and picked up a bowling ball off the rack. She set it down, though, as she turned to Shinra in a manner that clearly said: "I don't know how to play this game!"

Shinra smiled in understanding, and explained the rules to her. "It's quite simple. There are ten pens at the end of the lane, see? You throw the ball at the pins like this." He walked up to the lane and threw his ball down the lane, earning a perfect strike. "You have two tries per frame, and the person who can hit down the most wins." He went on to explain the scoring system, how to type your name into the machine, and what a frame actually was.

By the end of it all, Celty was underwhelmed by the simplicity of it all. Her first few throws off, but by her third frame Celty was quickly getting the hang of it. For her first game, Celty got three strikes, five spares, and only two gutters. She came in second to Masaomi, who was still bragging about beating her. "I beat a Dullahan, not even an immortal is a better bowler than I am!" Celty quickly challenged him to a second game, and actually tied him the next two games. On her fifth game, she and Masaomi were neck and neck, tied with 173 points. Celty had one last throw, then it would be Masaomi's turn. She readied herself, got into position...and bowled a gutter.

Masaomi doubled over laughing, and Celty crossed her arms over her chest, the smoke billowing from her neck showing off her obvious embarrassment. But she had a plan. She wasn't about to lose just yet. Masaomi wiped his tears off on the sleeve of his hoodie, and picked up his bowling ball from off the rack. He stepped up to the lane, readied his bowling ball, and swung his arm, letting go of it just when it would travel in a straight line.

Quiet as a ghost, Celty willed the shadows stretching across the lane to rise up in a small curve, sending Masaomi's ball into the gutter. "Wha-? Hey no fair!" Masaomi cried out in protest, watching Celty do the closest thing she could do to a laugh. Shinra smiled and decided enough was enough. It was getting late, and everyone was tired. They walked over to table that had a bunch of small packages and a cake sitting on it.

Celty decided to look at the presents first, since she couldn't eat the cake. The first was from Anri, and it was a set of pink pajamas and card saying, "I got you these since you let me stay at your apartment. Happy birthday!"

The next one was from Mikado and Masaomi. They had gotten a simple card that said, "Happy Birthday!" Inside was some Yen.

Next was from Simon, Shizuo, and Dennis. It was a couple of batteries for her PDA, and another card. She got a card (and a rather large amount of Yen) from Kadota and his gang.

She received a declaration of love from Shinra.

She gave him a declaration of love with her fist.

Once everyone had headed home, Shinra and Celty stayed behind to clean up the little mess everyone had left. Once they finished, Shinra gave Celty a small envelope. Inside was a picture of all them at the bowling alley, with Celty laughing at Masaomi, Mikado and Anri smiling at them. Shizuo was standing in behind the counter, for once not looking angry. Erika was standing victoriously over all the Yen she had won. Shinra was sitting in a chair next to Celty. Simon and Dennis were standing at the table, putting out the cake and presents. Celty looked at the picture, smiling inwardly as she tucked it away into a safe shadow pocket.

Operating the bowling machines in the back, Izaya wore his trademark smirk, smiling as he watched the couple leave. "I'll think I'll have my next birthday at a bowling alley. I'll just have to find someone to replace Shizu-Chan." 


End file.
